Accident with Danube cruise ship in Austria
A cruise ship on the Danube is unable to maneuver and crashes into a concrete wall. There are injured people.
Aschach an der Donau – Eleven passengers were slightly injured in an accident involving a river cruise ship on the Danube during the night.
The ship came from Passau and was on its way to Budapest with 142 passengers, mostly from Germany, as the police in Upper Austria reported.
The accident happened in a lock in Aschach an der Donau. A large contingent of emergency services from the emergency services, fire brigade, police, water police and shipping authorities were on site.
The Bulgarian-flagged ship suddenly became unable to maneuver in the lock area and crashed into a concrete wall, the police said. The captain immediately pressed an emergency switch. He was able to start the electronics again and steer it out of the lock. The shipping inspectorate only found sheet metal damage to the side walls. The cruise ship therefore continued towards Linz. The only damage to the lock was caused by concrete abrasion.
Aschach an der Donau is located around 60 kilometers southeast of Passau. Linz is around 30 kilometers further downstream.
17 injured in Austria: Cruise ship crashes into lock wall
Suddenly the captain could no longer steer his ship and crashed into a concrete wall! A few days after the fatal bridge accident in Baltimore (USA) now the ship accident in Austria.
The river cruiser with 142 passengers on board was on its way from Passau to Linz when the accident occurred in the lock area in Aschach an der Donau (Eferding district) on Saturday night.
The impact injured 17 passengers; eleven of them – most of them from Germany – had to be taken to hospital, according to the police.
A large contingent of rescue workers and police were deployed at the scene of the accident.
When asked by BILD, the police explained that the ship flying the Bulgarian flag was “suddenly unable to maneuver” when leaving a lock chamber and then crashed into the lock wall. The captain pressed the emergency button, whereupon the electronics started again and the ship could be steered out of the lock.
After an inspection by the shipping authority, the ship was able to continue its journey towards Budapest despite damage.
